Hey there. I’ve gotten into Street Fighter over the past week, and I bought a Madcatz SFxT Pro stick (it was one that had been opened, but I don’t think it had actually been used). It’s working very well for me, but I’m worrying about how durable it is. This is my first stick, so I’ve gone from controlling movement with a thumb to controlling it with an entire arm, and I’ve noticed that I’m using more force than I’m used to exerting on electronic equipment. I have some anxiety and OCD issues, so could anyone just reassure me that I’m not going to accidentally break this thing and that the previous owner didn’t have any problems with it that I’m going to discover in 2 months?

I treat mine like crap. Often carry it around by the stick, and it’s tough as nails. If you watch some of the more aggressive charge characters in tournament games, they might as well be punching the thing. Don’t worry about how aggressive your style is, just how effective it is.

On top of that if it contains sanwa/sanwa equivalent parts, chances are they’ve been battle proven in an arcade cabinet environment by multiple drunken angry truck drivers at a service depot. One person using a newish stick at home has nothing to worry about

Seriously though, I have an HRAP2 from about 8 years ago… Brought it to several tournaments. Stick still works. I had a dead button three times, but that’s to be expected after about 5-6 years, which is when it happened. As long as you don’t drop it, the sticks themselves can handle a LOT of damage. The case and cord are actually the only really breakable parts.